Non-exercise SVT during marathon training

[elisamlw]

I'm a 25y/o female. 5'10", 155 lbs, non-smoker diagnosed with SVT six weeks ago. Irregular rhythm was caught on EKG and my longest episode was one hour. Had an echo, came back clean. Have been diagnosed also with severe anemia and dehydration; have been taking iron supplements and staying hydrated for last six weeks. I'm also bradycardic with RHR of 55-60.

Last night went to ER for chest tightness/a little pain and almost passing out. Did chest x-ray, bloodwork and EKG and everything came back normal. Doc thinks I worked myself into hyperventilating and says it has nothing to do with my heart.

I'm training for a marathon and running 25-35 miles per week; race is in three weeks. Docs have all said it's safe to run as long as I stay hydrated. Never had SVT episode while running or immediately after; they've always been during rest.

Wondering what my next steps are from here. I don'y want to be on meds, and I'd like to avoid surgery if possible. However, I would still like to be able to train hard for marathons and triathlons in the future.

[littlegreenman1]

PM sent...

Basically... running marathons on SVT - been there, done that.

Hope your 20 went well this weekend. God bless the taper!!

[elisamlw]

Thank you for your answers!

[tom_h]

PSVT is short for paroxsysmal supraventricular tachycardia, or just SVT.  These are sudden onsets of rapid heartbeat. As i_s_w said, there are many kinds of SVT.  Sometimes, they exhibit subtle markers on an EKG to help identify them, but often, they are concealed, and an EKG will appear perfectly normal.  Even while in tachycardia, the waveform may look fairly ordinary, except for the rate.  Electrolyte imbalance can cause issues with rhythm.  But remember, you be an elite athlete with a structurally sound heart, and still have arrhythmia issues.  This is an electrical issue often cause by an accessory pathway that conducts around the normal circuit.  We're always here if you find more out and still have questions.

PS. I hate my spacebar on my iPad too!

[is_something_wrong]

Sorry for misspelling. Stupid iPad.

[is_something_wrong]

I'm afraid that's too unspecific, but again that doesn't matter. We can't dianose or treat this anyway =)

Different PSVTs occur different places in the heart, and their mechanisms are different. Some tachycardias are just irritable spots firing lots of PACs, some are circuits that EPs break with heat. Then you are permanently cures.

Tom on this post knows a lot about SVT. His answers arw great.

[elisamlw]

My doctor said it was PSVT.. is that specific enough? I have not yet seen a cardiologist/electrophysiologist. I go to my GP next week to have my iron levels checked. Maybe she will refer me, or maybe this condition just needs more time.

I'm just confused because I've been hydrating like crazy, taking two iron pills a day + multivitamin, cut out all caffeine. Maybe it's just all this physical stress put on my body.

I'm attempting a "short" 7-miler tomorrow morning as part of the taper before the marathon. We did our last long run of 20 last weekend and I felt so great that I could have kept running.

And like I said, I've never had an episode while running or exercising, but will most definitely take your advice to stop if it happens.

[tom_h]

As noted above most SVT's are not dangerous but still need to be converted.  Please take this advice from someone with a lot of experience with high physical stress level SVT.  If you're running, and you feel it kick in, (it's unmistakeable), PLEASE STOP!!  It's not good to continue to place stress on your body in that condition.  Again as noted above, the most effective treatment for this a minimally invasive procedure that puts you on the sofa for a couple of days with light activity for a couple of weeks following.  I opted to have mine done under general anesthesia, but I still went home the same day.  Best of luck to you!

[is_something_wrong]

Hi,

Not easy to say. Did your doctor mention which SVT you suffer from? There are 10-12 of them, but most of them manifest with rapid, completely regular heart rhythm.

SVT is usually not a sign of any organic heart disease. Your echo is clean, and with your condition level you don't have any heart failure.

You're saying irregular heart rhythm for an hour. Are you sure you're not suffering from atrial fibrillation? This is a condition that many athletes get with age. Anemia is strenous to the heart, and I don't think it's uncommon to get atrial arrhythmias with anemia.

Heart rhythm issues aren't corrected with surgery, don't worry. Treatment is invasive, but you stay awake and treatment is done by deactivating the problematic spots or pathways by warming or freezing them. This should be completely painless.